Social Media and Consumer Behavior

Argument and Research
Annotated Bibliography Assignment
Fall 2020
Please see the Written Assignment rubric for general guidelines regarding all writing
assignments. The rubric is shown in the Course Information section of the Bb site. The
primary grading focal points, and the corresponding weights assigned to each, are:
– content 60%
– format 10%
– organization 10%
– English 20%
Conventions
The focal point of the assignment is to identify credible evidence/grounds/backing for
the research topic selected. The credible evidence criteria is described in chapter 4 of
the Writing Arguments text and is also shown in the Writing Resources content tab of
the Bb site.
In keeping with my attempt not to micromanage the assignment submissions, and to
encourage your own strategic initiatives, the general guidelines for the assignment are:
Content
• Sufficient, typical, accurate, relevant (STAR)
• Six to eight credible sources (minimum)
• Multiple genres – i.e., variety of source types such as national news publications,
scholarly journals, public journals (The Economist, Time, U.S. News and World
Report, Forbes, Fortune), websites from.gov, .edu, .org and selective .com sites
Format
• Summary paragraph of the source (two lines)
• Summary paragraph of why the source is important (two lines)
• Cover page, abstract, reference page not needed for this assignment
Organization
• American Psychological Association (APA) citation of the source
• Double-space throughout (including the source)
• Remove extra default spaces between lines/paragraphs
English Conventions
• Formal English – no contractions, slang, figurative language, first or second
person pronouns
• Complete sentences using proper grammar and punctuation

Malcolm – Spring 2020
Written Assignment Rubric
Excellent (A/A-) Good (B+/B) Average (C) Poor (D+/D) Less than Poor
Thesis
(considered part
of content)
Easy to identify,
plausible, creative,
precise.
May be slightly
vague or not as
connected with
text.
Difficult to identify,
lacks originality.
Difficult to identify,
lacks originality, or
repeats points made by
others.
Thesis cannot be
identified or is very
difficult to understand.
Content
60% (including
sources)
Author has a clear
basis of
understanding
regarding the
information
explained in the
paper.
Author has some
understanding of
the material
contained in the
paper but uses
numerous quotes to
explain his/her
point.
Author is uncertain of
the content and
scattered in the
presentation of the
information.
Author has minimal
understanding of the
research as evidenced
by a long quotes and/or
a lack of content.
Author does not
demonstrate an
understanding of the
topic, the instructions,
the need for credible
sources, etc. Some
information is plagiarized.
Sources
(part of content)
Use of credible
sources with
identifiable
authors,
publications, and
dates that are
cited in-text and
on the reference
page.
Most sources are
credible and most
are cited in-text and
on the reference
page.
Several of the sources
appear not to be
credible.
Approximately half of
the sources are cited
in-text or on the
reference page or
citations in-text do not
connect to the
reference page.
Most sources may/may
not be credible and are
not included for many
of the statements made
in the paper or sources
are not credible.
Sources in-text are not
shown and/or a reference
page is not included.
Format
10%
APA and follows
specifics shown in
Assignment
Summary.
Primarily followed
APA formatting but
may have missed
one item.
Missed two or three
APA formatting items.
Missed more than three
APA formatting items,
or used an alternative
citation style, or did not
follow some portion of
the required directions.
Did not follow directions
regarding paper length,
citation style, and/or
number of sources
required for the
assignment.
Malcolm – Spring 2020
Written Assignment Rubric
Excellent (A/A-) Good (B+/B) Average (C) Poor (D+/D) Less than Poor
Organization
10%
Author followed
directions when
organizing the
written
assignment. Clear
transitions and
connections
between thesis,
supporting points,
and evidence.
Author has general
organization to the
paper but is missing
a few transitions or
connections
between thesis,
evidence, and
supporting points.
Author is missing
transitions, and/or
rationale presentation
of material, and/or
substantial evidence.
Author is missing more
than one of the key
elements needed for
the assignment.
Author is missing multiple
elements of organization
such as paragraphs,
headings, page numbers,
uniform spacing between
paragraphs.
Conventions
20%
Sentence
structure,
grammar,
punctuation, and
spelling are all
correct. The way
in which the paper
is written lends to
the professional
appearance and
readability of the
paper.
Most of the
sentence structure,
grammar,
punctuation, and
spelling are correct.
The general use of
these English
conventions make
the paper easy to
read.
Some difficulty with
English usage,
sentence structure,
word choice,
punctuation
throughout the paper
but the content is still
understandable.
Frequent difficulty with
English usage, sentence
structure, word choice,
punctuation, and
spelling throughout the
paper. These errors
interfere with the
readability of the paper.
Multiple types of errors
from the “Top 20 Error”
list and multiple
appearances of these
errors in the written
work. The meaning of
the paper is partially lost
due to the errors in
English language usage.
This written assignment rubric applies to research papers and other written assignments unless stated otherwise. Rubric items are to be used as
a guide to understanding grading in the course. (Revised January 2020).